My journey of becoming more than just a "pretty face"
after getting gastric bypass surgery... a journey through foods, rants, good things and too much information :)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

16:06

No. I'm not starting to talk in military time. 16:06 is like a new milestone for me. A momentous occasion. Something I didn't think would happen.

So let me walk you through it. My gym/bootcamp requires all members to perform a monthly fitness test. Depending on your score for the fitness test, you are awarded a dog tag color, and a rank. Cadet, Novice, Ranger, ... it keeps going. I don't remember all the names. I'm currently a Cadet... a beginner. Regardless, based on the rank you get... is a gauge of where you and your body is physically and how far it can be pushed before you end up all discombobulated and/or broken.

There are a few different workouts you need to do in order to complete the fitness test. Jacobs Ladder ( I think you need to go up to 100 and record your time)Rower (2000 meters, record time)Stairs (as many sets of stairs you can do in 12 minutes. 1 set of stairs has 4 flights. or something like that. Idk.. each flight has like... 10 stairs... from the basement to the 2nd floor there are 4 of those 10 stairs. does that make sense? Like.. basement- stairs- landing-stairs-landing-stairs-landing-stairs-2nd floor. anyways. going from the basement, to the 2nd floor... BACK down to the basement... counts as one set of stairs.)Push ups ( as many as you can do in 2 minutes)Sit ups (as many as you can do in 2 minutes)1 mile run (as fast as you can go, record your time)

So my first fitness test was last month and I had a modified version. My version went like this:
CrunchesCobra push ups
Rope pulley thing (500 meters, record time-- in lieu of jacobs ladder)
1 mile run (this was 18:14... thats all I remember)
Elliptical (1 mile, no resistance -- in lieu of stairs)

(I'll get these scores from tyrome later and edit:post)

So... now... yesterday, I did my 2nd fitness test. They were saying how I was going to do everything like I did last time... and use the substitutes and what not. But I was totally pumped. I was READY.

Crunches: 125

Cobras: 75
Rope pulley thing (okay, this substitute I did because I'm scared of Jacobs Ladder)- 500 ft in 5mins and some odd seconds

I did a one mile run in 16 minutes and 6 seconds. So. I know for a lot of people... thats no big deal. But you're talking to a girl (okay, well.. you're reading the blog of a girl...) who doesn't run. Who couldn't even make the mile in elementary school through high school in under like... 18 minutes. But I set my standards the other day... when Ty put me on the treadmill and had me do just 1/2 a mile. I did it in 8mins and some random amount of seconds. So since I knew my PT test was coming up... I decided that I was going to run the mile in 16:30. I definitely just wanted under 17 minutes. So yesterday... I got on the treadmill... I set the speed at a 16:12 pace... and went. I jogged. I ran. I even increased the speed at one point. If it got to be to much.. I lowered the pace down, but never more than a 17minute pace. It was hard. So unbelievably hard. Ralph had come over at one point to see how I was doing .. I told him to walk away. I couldn't be distracted. I could barely talk since I was so out of breath. And I was in the "zone". Not quite sure what zone .. but whichever one it was.. I was in it. The only times my feet came off the belt was so I could get a drink of water (I'm not quite that talented to run and drink without looking like I just took a bath...) but I made sure I only did it for less than 10 seconds. When I was running... I was making sure I did it in 30-45 second intervals... I'm almost up to a minute of just straight running. When I was done with my mile, I jumped up on the sides of it and shouted 16:06! I think I was more in shock that I actually did it.... because it really didn't register.

After that... I decided I wanted to do all the actual exercises... instead of my modified version from last time. So then I did the rower. And then I did the stairs. So after doing a mile... my legs were jello-y. After the rower.... my legs were fire-y. After the stairs... my legs were ready to detach themselves from my body and slowly walk away to escape the torture.

I killed it. I felt empowered... especially after my mile run.Ralph and Ryan were proud of me. Thats all they kept telling me. Especially Ralph, he was really stoked for me and impressed that I shaved more than 2 minutes off my mile. ( I don't know if I mentioned how much I love all my Team Extreme boys lately... because I really really do) They were even more impressed when I basically demanded to do the rest of the exercises and not my modified version.

I'm really excited to get my score... which I'll either get today or tomorrow and hopefully... I moved up into the next level.

This milestone... is really something amazing. Its really helping me put all my hard workouts and dieting into perspective and it's only going to get better after my surgery. I'm so excited. The runner's high is really not a myth. I always feel so much better and happier after my workouts and yesterday after my PT test I was totally jazzed and it was awesome.

In the words of Elle Woods:

Exercise gives you endorphins.
Endorphins make you happy.
Happy people just don't shoot their husbands.
They just don't